EU: EC Denies Anti-US bias after treasury intervention over Apple

The European Commission has hit back at US concerns about competition probes into transfer-pricing arrangements by US-headquartered companies doing business in Europe including Apple and Amazon.

Both are under investigation for sweetheart tax arrangements with national tax authorities that were deemed to constitute illegal state aid in preliminary rulings by the EC.

The probes concern Amazon’s taxes in Luxembourg and Apple’s tax-break arrangement in Ireland, which is now withdrawing its so-called double Irish tax perk over a four-year period.

Last October the E.C. announced state aid decisions against Starbucks and Fiat Finance and Trade, followed by a ruling this past January with a negative decision against a Belgian tax scheme it said benefited 35, mostly European, companies.

Apple and Starbucks have appealed the decisions to the EU’s highest court in Luxembourg.

A Commission spokesperson on Thursday said the EC takes note of the white paper and insisted that the EC is not unfairly targeting US companies.

“EU law applies indiscriminately to all companies operating in Europe,” the spokesperson said, adding, “there is no bias against US companies.”

She added that the Commission has been in contact with US authorities on this matter “on several occasions already and remains available to offer all necessary further clarification as regards the application of established principles of EU state aid law in this area.”

Full Content: Fortune

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